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The Leeds & Liverpool Canal was initially proposed in 1766 by a group of Bradford merchants. The route in Yorkshire was fairly obvious, straight up the Aire Valley into the Craven district. From there into Lancashire, they first suggested a route ending near Preston, where boats could sail to and from the Irish Sea. All the major Lancashire towns would be served by branch canals. Over the next three years, the Bradford merchants realised they needed more money for the canal than they could provide. They looked for partners, and Liverpool merchants then became involved, with that town becoming the canal’s terminus, where a link into the Mersey would create a through route between the North Sea and the Irish Sea. Other Lancashire towns, and Settle, were still served by branch canals, though by this time a Lancaster Canal, from the Wigan coalfield to Lancaster, was being suggested. One of the maps from 1769 showing the routes proposed in Lancashire. The original scheme by the Bradford commttee is in brown, and the final one of the Liverpool committee in red. The first suggestion for a Lancaster Canal is shown in blue, though this idea was not authorised until 1793, the day before the Leeds & Liverpool Canal’s proposed change of route in East Lancashire came before Parliament. As a result, that route had to be altered, and the L&LC Act postponed until 1794. The green line shows the Douglas Navigation and Leigh’s Cut, named after Alexander Leigh, the Navigations main owner. The Navigation was bought by the L&L Canal in 1772, and this cut eventually became part of the main line. Also in green is a proposed canal to the Bridgewater at Runcorn. This developed from a Liverpool to Wigan Canal, proposed by merchants who were opposed to the L&L Canal route. Below is a relief map of the canal’s route in Lancashire. The original route (blue) avoids some of the high ground, though using a higher northern way into the Aire Valley than the railway. The canal route as built (red) crosses many more valleys and was thus more difficult, suggesting that canal engineers had gained confidence between 1770 and 1790. The route into the Aire Valley River Calder River Ribble River Douglas Preston High ground around Ormskirk Burnley Blackburn River Alt Early canal engineers avoided high ground and expensive deep cuttings where possible, and kept river crossing Wigan embankment heights to a minimum by lengthening the canal and taking it high up river valleys. Liverpool Settle This map shows the canal (in red) in 1774, after the River Douglas Gargrave Earl of Thanet's first two sections had been Navigation Canal opened. The blue line shows Clitheroe Skipton the line authorised by Colne Bingley Parliament under the canal’s Keighley Leyland Shipley Act of 1770. Note how this Burnley Blackburn Accrington route, as proposed by the Bradford Leeds Tarleton Bradford committee, tends to Burscough Halifax Bradford Chorley Canal serve the limestone district. The branch to Settle was Wigan Wakeeld part of the original scheme, Leigh becoming a separate canal Liverpool proposal in 1773, and failing Manchester because of lack of support from local landowners. L&LC route L&LC route Other waterways Limestone Coal Measures proposed built in 1774 open The canal as completed, with the route as authorised in the 1794 Act. By moving Gargrave the route further south, the canal now serves the Skipton Colne Lancashire coalfield, and is Bingley Keighley virtually following the line Nelson Blackburn Shipley proposed by the Liverpool Burnley Tarleton Accrington Leeds committee in 1770. The Bradford change in route shows the Burscough Chorley increasing importance of coal from 1770 to 1790, Wigan marking the change from the Agricultural Revolution, and Liverpool Leigh the need for lime as fertiliser, Manchester to the Industrial Revolution, and the need for coal. L&LC route Other waterways Limestone Coal Measures as completed open Lead and non-ferrous mining was an important industry in 18th century Craven and the Dales, and would certainly have provided some cargo on the canal. That from the Dales would have been brought to Gargrave for loading, while that from these mines, at Cononley, would have used the wharf by the old turnpike, now the A65, near Farnhill. The image above shows block printing as would have been undertaken at Church Bank Print Works. A whole range of blocks was needed for the different colours and shapes used in a pattern. On the right is a hand loom of a size typically used in a house. This one has a ‘dobby’ which controls the reeds and allows the loom to weave simple patterns. On the left is a map showing the turnpike system in East Lancashire when the canal was first authorised in 1770. Note that most of the turnpikes ran East-West, as did the canal route. There were few mills at this time, with most textile production being in the home. Church Bank Print Works was probably then the largest textile factory in the area, and possibly in the world. By the 1816, on the right, when the canal was completed, Manchester had developed into a major industrial centre, and many turnpikes had been opened running North-South from East Lancashire. Even though the canal route had been changed, it did not serve Manchester and the new textile printing works around Bury. At this time, the only large factories for spinning and weaving tended to be around Manchester, with production in East Lancashire remaining home-based. The red dots show warehousing used by the Peel family for servicing this home production. 1 White Moor Reservoir Settle The Yorkshire woollen textile 2 Slipper Hill Reservoir Long Preston Winterburn industry was well established 3 Foulridge Reservoirs Reservoir by the time the canal was built, River Aire the turnpike from Leeds, north River Ribble Gisburn 1803 through Settle, allowing wool Gargrave 1788 to be brought down from the Knaresborough Barnoldswick Skipton 1777 important Kendal market. River Wharfe Clitheroe There were also important 1 Harrogate 2 1753 turnpike running eastwards to Foulridge 3 1783 Kildwick Addingham the grain producing areas in the Colne Silsden Vale of York and beyond. Grain Ilkley was important for feeding the Burnley Keighley 1755 growing communities of workers Otley in the Aire Valley, but unlike in 1753 Bingley Guiseley Lancashire where grain imports Rivers 1755 1752 were a major traffic on the canal, Leeds & Liverpool Canal the Yorkshire turnpike system Turnpike built before 1770 Ribble/Aire served most of the transport Watershed Turnpike built 1770 - 1810 Bradford needs for the milling industry. Turnpike built after 1810 1823 Leeds The map on the left is of Blackburn in 1824. The canal did not go into the town centre, but kept to the high ground to the south where land was much cheaper. By the time this map was drawn, the canal had only been open for fourteen years, yet in that time the town had begun to grow outwards towards the canal at Eanam and Nova Scotia. Towns such as Blackburn became increasingly important as the Industrial Revolution developed. The canal was a major factor in the growth of local industry and trade. The same can be said for towns in Yorkshire, such as Shipley, which only developed after the 1860s, following the first closure of the Bradford Canal. People like Titus Salt were enticed there by the better sanitary conditions, compared to those in Bradford, and the good transport links by rail and canal. Those investing in the Leeds & Liverpool Canal were mainly the rising middle class — local merchants, mill owners and tradesmen. The Aire & Calder Navigation was the first to be financed by this type of investor whose interest in improving transport marks the start of the Industrial Revolution. Successful inland waterways were always financed by local people whose investment was linked directly to encouragement of local industry. The later ‘Canal Mania’ waterways did not have this link to the local economy, with investors coming from around the country, particularly London. Consequently, those waterways were much less successful. Note that around 8% of investors in the Leeds & Liverpool Canal were women, usually either widows or children whose parents had died. Less than half the money for building the canal came from investors, most came from surplus income after the first sections opened in 1773/4. Because the canal was so successful, industries rapidly grew alongside its banks. This was both positive and negative for the canal. It ensured that there was plenty of trade, but restricted the possibility of enlarging the canal at a later date. Lack of Government regulation also meant that there was no standard canal size. The narrow boat was never used in any number on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, though there were a few short ones, 60 Narrow Boat 70 feet long by 7 feet wide feet long, working on specific traffics, such as carrying salt Load: 20 tons from Cheshire. The Leeds & Liverpool ‘short boat’ was based on the 18th century Humber keel, with the lock size the same as on the Leeds & Liverpool barge Aire & Calder Navigation in the 1770s. The Lancashire end 60 feet long by 14 feet wide of the canal had 72 feet long locks, suitable for the ‘flats’ Load: 50 tons found around the Mersey estuary. There were wider Humber keels, and these became the standard for most other Yorkshire waterways. The Aire & Calder Navigation continued being enlarged into the 20th Humber Keel century, and can be used by boats slightly larger than the 60 feet long by 15.5 feet wide one illustrated here.

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